Abstract
When China invited the Latin American countries to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, it fuelled expectations of a much closer and more productive relationship with the region. In practice, however, there is little evidence that this was happening even before the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. The article shows that neither the policy statements by China nor the trends in economic relations indicate a substantive change in Sino–Latin American relations and that the Belt and Road Initiative represents a repackaging of existing relations and the continuation of trends that have been underway since the global financial crisis.
Highlights
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a centrepiece of Chinese international diplomacy
In line with the general literature on whether the BRI is really “new,” it considers the extent to which the “Five Cooperation Priorities” of the BRI differ from previous priorities identified in Chinese relations with the region, both in terms of official statements and practice. It analyses whether there has been a significant increase in Chinese trade, Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI), infrastructure projects, and loans in Latin America since the region was included as part of the BRI and whether there has been a change in the relative importance of the different types of economic relations
The BRI came late to Latin American and Caribbean (LAC), five years after it was launched by President Xi Jinping
Summary
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a centrepiece of Chinese international diplomacy. Some go as far as to claim that the BRI is little more than a rebranding exercise for existing policies and projects, leading to it being described as “Old Wine in a New Bottle” (Chen, 2020) This raises the question whether the extension of the BRI to Latin America is leading to a significant change in relations between China and the countries of the region. The article avoids the polarised views of Sino–LAC relations that are prevalent in much of the literature by carrying out a detailed analysis of recent trends It argues that there has not been a step change in China’s engagement in Latin America but rather a continuation of existing trends that have been evolving over the past two decades, since the Global Financial Crisis. A final section presents some preliminary conclusions regarding the BRI and LAC
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